Arsa, the debut feature-length film from documentary duo Masbedo (Nicolò Massazza and Iacopo Bedogni), was filmed on the island of Stromboli, in the Aeolian archipelago. In a landscape, a space suspended between land and sea, between dream and reality, Arsa has built her own world where pain is transformed into living matter.
"Shooting in Stromboli is an undeniable challenge: nature is extreme, the sea can become stormy, and the wind conquers everything. Lava rocks, evidence of an ancient and powerful history, are everywhere, making each shot a fight with the environment. All these challenges gave our film a unique dimension, an intensity that fuelled our choral dedication. Every wave that breaks, every gust of wind, is not only an obstacle, but a call to explore our central theme: the power of imagination and solitude, nature as a mirror of our limits. Each image is designed to offer a unique sensory experience, which not only captures the enchanting beauty of Stromboli, but also the inner worlds of the characters. The island, with its wild and powerful energy, is not only the backdrop of the story: it is a living character, breathing and evolving together with the protagonists, shaping their emotions and challenges", noted director duo Masbedo.
Arsa, the debut feature-length film from documentary duo Masbedo (Nicolò Massazza and Iacopo Bedogni), was filmed on the island of Stromboli, in the Aeolian archipelago. In a landscape, a space suspended between land and sea, between dream and reality, Arsa has built her own world where pain is transformed into living matter.
"Shooting in Stromboli is an undeniable challenge: nature is extreme, the sea can become stormy, and the wind conquers everything. Lava rocks, evidence of an ancient and powerful history, are everywhere, making each shot a fight with the environment. All these challenges gave our film a unique dimension, an intensity that fuelled our choral dedication. Every wave that breaks, every gust of wind, is not only an obstacle, but a call to explore our central theme: the power of imagination and solitude, nature as a mirror of our limits. Each image is designed to offer a unique sensory experience, which not only captures the enchanting beauty of Stromboli, but also the inner worlds of the characters. The island, with its wild and powerful energy, is not only the backdrop of the story: it is a living character, breathing and evolving together with the protagonists, shaping their emotions and challenges", noted director duo Masbedo.
Eolo Film Productions, Alcion, Rai Cinema
Arsa lives alone on the edge of society, in a dilapidated capsule overlooking the sea, somewhere on an island coast. She is eighteen years old, beautiful, guarded and wild; to make a living, she recovers the waste that the sea returns to the earth, transforming it into something new and meaningful. A thicket of reeds separates her from the social life of the world and the tourists she observes from a distance. One day, however, three young men rent a small vacation house on the island, suddenly invading her space. One of them, Andrea, is transfixed by Arsa’s enigmatic figure, and tries to enter her world of recovery and transformation, discovering as he does an overwhelming passion.
